Depressive and anxiety symptoms among housemaids
- 14 November 2003
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Wiley in American Journal of Industrial Medicine
- Vol. 44 (6), 685-691
- https://doi.org/10.1002/ajim.10280
Abstract
Background Housemaid, the most common occupation in the female labor force in Brazil, is known to be targeted by a generalized racial and job discrimination, which can generate mental suffering such as depressive and anxiety symptoms. In this cross‐sectional study, the association between being a maid and having depressive and anxiety symptoms was evaluated. Methods Data for this study was taken from a former survey carried out in a random sample of 470 families living in a poor area of the city of Salvador, capital of the state of Bahia, Northeast Brazil. The study population comprised all women between the ages of 14 and 69, who reported having a paid occupation (n = 335). Data was collected by trained interviewers, using questionnaires. Psychological symptoms were identified using the Questionnaire for Psychiatric Morbidity among Adults, (QMPA), from which only those related to depression and anxiety (QMPA‐SAD) were analyzed. Results Logistic regression showed that being a housemaid was positively associated with “sadness/tiredness” (adjusted prevalence ratio, PRadj = 1.64; 95% confidence interval, CI: 1.17–2.28), “poor concentration” (PRadj = 1.81; 95% CI: 1.13–2.90), “palpitations” (PRadj = 2.22; 95% CI: 1.28–3.84), and “aggressive behavior” (PRaj = 1.58; 95% CI: 1.01–2.46). Conclusions Although cross‐sectional designs are limited by causal inference, these results are in accordance with those obtained in qualitative studies. Advances in the Brazilian labor legislation with respect to domestic service may help to reduce social discrimination and contribute towards minimizing a possible mental burden resulting from this occupation. Am. J. Ind. Med. 44:685–691, 2003.Keywords
This publication has 7 references indexed in Scilit:
- Emprego em serviços domésticos e acidentes de trabalho não fataisRevista de Saúde Pública, 2003
- Participation in Leisure Activities: Is It a Protective Factor for Women's Mental Health?Journal of Leisure Research, 2000
- Occupational Differences in Depression and Global Health: Results from a National Sample of US WorkersJournal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 1998
- Informal jobs: another occupational hazard for women's mental health?International Journal of Epidemiology, 1997
- Razões de proporções e uso do método delta para intervalos de confiança em regressão logísticaRevista de Saúde Pública, 1997
- Work Conditions as Explanations for the Relation between Socioeconomic Status, Gender, and Psychological DisordersEpidemiologic Reviews, 1995
- Estrutura fatorial do questionário de morbidade psiquiátrica de adultos aplicado em amostras populacionais de cidades brasileirasRevista de Saúde Pública, 1994